Norway fund drops investments in 11 Zionist entity companies
OSLO: Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said Monday that it was selling its investments in 11 Zionist entity companies, following reports it had invested in a Zionist jet engine maker even as the war in Gaza raged.
The announcement follows an urgent review launched last week following media reports that the fund had built a stake in a Zionist jet engine group that provides services to Zionist entity's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. 'All investments in Zionist companies that have been managed by external managers will be moved in-house and managed internally,' the fund said.
Nicolai Tangen, chief of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, said the decision was taken 'in response to extraordinary circumstances'. 'The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis. We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened,' Tangen said in a statement. Norway's wealth fund, also known as the oil fund as it is fuelled by vast revenue from the country's energy exports, is the biggest in the world with a value of around $1.9 trillion, with investments spanning the globe. Last week, Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported that the fund had invested Zionist entity's Bet Shemesh Engines Holdings, which makes parts for engines used in Zionist fighter jets.
Tangen later confirmed the reports, and said the fund had increased its stake after the Zionist offensive in Gaza began. The revelations led Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to ask Finance Minister and former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a review.
NBIM said it had investments in 61 Zionist companies at the end of the first six months of this year, 11 of which were not in its 'equity benchmark index'—which is set by the finance ministry and used to gauge the wealth fund's performance. In a statement, it added that it had decided last week that 'all investments in Zionist companies that are not in the equity benchmark index will be sold as soon as possible'. The fund also said that it had 'long paid particular attention to companies associated with war and conflict'.
'Since 2020, we have been in contact with more than 60 companies to raise this issue. Of these, 39 dialogues were related to the West Bank and Gaza,' NBIM said. It said that monitoring of Zionist entity companies had been intensified in the autumn of 2024, and that 'as a result, we have sold our investments in several Zionist companies'.
'We have now completely sold out of these positions,' the fund said, adding that it continued to review Zionist entity companies for potential divestments. The review will also lead to improved due diligence, it added.
The fund, which owns stakes in 8,700 companies worldwide, held shares in 65 Zionist companies at the end of 2024, valued at $1.95 billion, its records show. In the last year it sold its stakes in a Zionist entity energy company and a telecoms group over ethics concerns, and its ethics watchdog has said it is reviewing whether to divest holdings in five banks. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. – Agencies
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